After Boston was brought to a standstill April 19, which seemed more like something out a movie than anything that could really happen, one suspect from the Monday’s bombings, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was dead and the other suspect, Tamerlan’s brother Dzhokhar, was in custody.
The night began with a fatal shooting at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where the brothers ambushed an MIT police officer, 26-year-old Sean Collier, while he was sitting in his squad car. The next activity came out of Watertown, about 20 minutes west of MIT’s campus.
There was confrontation with police, which Watertown police chief Edward Deveau said involved three explosions – two from homemade hand grenades and one from a similar pressure cooker device like those used in the marathon bombing. A Massachusetts transit officer remains in critical condition after the confrontation. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, suffered multiple injuries during the confrontation and died on his way to the hospital after being taken into custody. During his escape, Dzhokhar, 19, drove over his brother.
Throughout the day, 9,000 local, state and federal officials searched for Dzhokhar, and the entire city of Boston and its immediate surrounding areas were put on lockdown. Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis warned the public not to open the door for anyone except a properly identified police official. “There’s a terrorist on the loose,” said Davis.
After an all-day manhunt around the Cambridge and Watertown areas of Boston, Dzhokhar was found hiding in a boat that was sitting, stored for the winter, in a resident’s backyard. Just before 7 p.m. (CST) a weak and injured Dzhokhar was taken into custody and transported to a local hospital with serious but unconfirmed injuries.
What caught the attention of many, however, was that Dzhokhar was not read his Miranda rights: “You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney…” The words of the Miranda warning have become an intrinsic part of the American judicial system.
Federal officials have said that the “pubic safety exemption” was enacted, meaning that officers could interrogate Dzhokhar prior to reading him his Miranda rights. According to the FBI, this is done when it is believed that “prior knowledge or awareness of specific facts or circumstances” can determine that there is “an immediate threat to safety” and therefore officers can “ask questions directed at neutralizing the danger.”
Dzhokhar is still in serious condition, and it is reported that he is still unable to talk due to throat injuries he received during the firefight in Watertown. However, the American Civil Libterties Union (ACLU) has been keeping a watchful eye on how the police handle interrogations, assuming Dzhokhar will be able to communicate.
ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero released a statement April 20 saying that while the organization “shares the public’s relief that the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings has been apprehended,” we must still adhere to the justice system.
Romero said that the exemption only applies while “there is a continued threat to public safety,” meaning it is not open-ended and Dzhokhar must be read his rights eventually. “We must not waver from our tried-and-true justice system,” Romero said, “even in the most difficult of times.”